by Morgana Best
We came to another set of oak doors. These had a huge iron lock on them. “Are my parents on the other side of that door?” I asked Agnes.
“Yes,” she said firmly. She struggled with the lock for a few moments before the door creaked open. It opened ever so slowly, and I could sense someone on the other side.
Was it my parents? Or was it someone from The Other? I held my breath, not quite game to look. Aunt Agnes pushed the doors open wider.
Standing there were my parents.
Chapter 11
The next thing I knew, I was enveloped in a group hug. I clung to my parents and was embarrassed when I found myself sobbing. My mother cried too, and when I finally detached, I saw my father wiping tears from his eyes.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions, Pepper,” my mother said.
“So do we,” Aunt Agnes said. “But first, do you need any help from us? Do you need food? Any sort of provisions?
“Henry had the place well-stocked with Witches’ Brew and water and various supplies, but there are no fresh fruit or vegetables, of course,” my mother said.
“We can meet you back here with some later,” Aunt Agnes said. “It’s perfectly safe for you to come here, isn’t it?”
“I certainly hope so,” my mother said, “but we can’t be certain. The Other might have ground-penetrating radar or terrestrial laser scanners or the like.”
“Valkyrie has put the pieces together,” Aunt Agnes said. “We’ve told Valkyrie about the Council and The Other, and of course she knows Lucas here is a Cleaner. She also knows you had to go missing to keep her safe.”
My parents nodded. My father spoke first. “Things are heating up with The Other, and we came here not only to see Pepper, but to tell you that someone in this town is a spy for The Other.”
My aunts and Lucas gasped. “Do you mean someone new to town or a long-term resident?” Aunt Agnes said.
“A long-term resident,” my father said. “We don’t know if it’s a woman or a man. All we know is that it’s a long-term resident. We need to question this person.”
“Question?” I said. “Surely no one involved with The Other will tell you anything.”
My parents exchanged glances.
“I’m sure your parents have ways to make people speak,” Aunt Agnes said.
I assumed she meant magical means, but I really didn’t want to know. I shuddered. When I had last seen my parents, I thought they were normal, everyday people. I had thought I was a normal, everyday person. It turned out we were all vampires, and not only vampires, but my mother had a seat on the vampire Council. It was a lot to take in.
My aunts filled in my parents about the murder of the previous day. “And it seems strange that it could be a coincidence,” Aunt Agnes concluded.
“It does seem rather strange timing, I must admit,” my mother said.
I looked at my mother with new eyes, thinking she looked like a powerful witch. And I suppose she was. “What are we going to do?” I said.
“Nothing,” Lucas said as quick as a flash. “I’ll do the investigating. Is there anything you can tell us about the person involved with The Other, Dahlia and Baudelaire?”
“We only know that he or she has been living in Lighthouse Bay for some time, no doubt to keep an eye on you,” she said to my aunts.
“Oh, gosh. That means it’s someone we know.” Aunt Dorothy clutched her head with both hands.
My mother agreed. “It could be a close friend, or it could be someone you come into contact with on a daily basis, perhaps at a supermarket or a café.”
“Or the antique dealer, Joyce Batson,” Aunt Agnes said. “When we were at the orchid show yesterday, someone mentioned she had a grudge against the victim.”
“Yes, it’s certainly worth investigating,” my mother said. “If a spy for The Other was responsible for this man’s death, then we are looking for someone you know.”
“I don’t know if Mrs Mumbles fits in, then,” I said to Aunt Agnes. “You don’t know her awfully well, do you? And you didn’t know that other suspect, Killian Cosgrove, at all.”
Aunt Agnes nodded slowly and tapped her chin with one finger. “That’s true. Then again, we don’t know if the murders are connected. There is still a chance that they weren’t.”
“How do you know all this about Mrs Mumbles and what’s his name, Killian someone?” Lucas said.
“We went to the orchid show yesterday for a brief time,” Aunt Agnes said. “I forced Valkyrie to go with me. We bought her an orchid.”
“We bought her two orchids,” Aunt Dorothy began before she was silenced by a quelling look from Aunt Agnes.
Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. He looked none too pleased, but thankfully did not speak.
I plastered what I hoped was an innocent look on my face.
“If you asked me, his wife killed him,” I said. “She’s not a nice woman.”
“You don’t think it’s your cat, do you?” Aunt Dorothy said suddenly.
“Your cat?” my father repeated. He was clearly puzzled.
I couldn’t stop staring at my parents. I thought I would never see them again and now having them here was all too surreal.
“The aunts found a cat,” I began, but Aunt Dorothy interrupted me.
“She wasn’t our cat!” she exclaimed. “She just took up residence. We didn’t know what her name was, so Valkyrie decided to name her Hecate. We accidentally did a spell on her and turned her into a human.”
My mother gasped. “You turned a cat into a human?”
“No, no, no,” Aunt Agnes said. “Allow me to explain, because I will explain properly so that people can understand, not just muttering on and on like a silly old fool. The cat did take up residence here and Valkyrie did call her Hecate. However, she is a Shifter cat. We don’t know how long she was in her cat form, but she’s having trouble adjusting to being a human. It turns out her name is Breena.”
Aunt Dorothy threw her hands in the air. “Whatever! That has nothing to do with anything, really, Agnes. The point is, what if that cat is the one working for The Other?”
I gasped. “You shouldn’t say such things about my cat.”
“It certainly seems to be a possibility,” my father said in an even tone. “I know you seem attached to this cat, Pepper, but please don’t discount the fact she could be working for The Other. I mean, sending in a cat to spy on you would be the obvious thing to do. Didn’t you say you only turned her back into a human with a spell?”
“Yes, but she doesn’t remember much about being a human,” I said.
“It could be an act,” my mother pointed out.
I rubbed my throbbing temples. A tension headache was coming on. My joy at seeing my parents was somewhat dampened by the possibility that my cat was a spy in our midst.
My father patted my shoulder. “Think about it. If I had to send in a spy, I couldn’t think of anything better than a cat. And you say she was in cat form for a long time?”
I nodded.
“Be careful what you say around her, then,” my father said.
“I think you’re barking up the wrong tree,” Agnes said, but Dorothy chuckled.
“She’s not a dog, Agnes. Get your metaphors straight.”
“You two stop your bickering, please,” Maude said.
Aunt Agnes snorted. “We’re not bickering. I haven’t done anything wrong. Dorothy is irritating me.”
My mother interrupted her. No doubt she was accustomed to the aunts’ squabbles. “We need to find out what’s going on, but people involved with The Other are gaining power and they need to be stopped. We need to find out the identity of the spy, and question him or her.”
“Do you really think they’ll tell you anything?” I asked them.
My parents once more exchanged glances, but Aunt Agnes said, “Yes, we’ve already told you that, Valkyrie. It’s best you don’t know. We need to capture this person and get them to talk.”
“We won�
��t torture anyone, if that’s what you’re thinking, Pepper,” my mother said. “We have our means.”
“What do we do now?” I asked her, “and why did you suddenly go missing without any warning?” I had finally asked the question that had been uppermost on my mind ever since I had discovered the truth about my parents..
“I’m truly sorry, Pepper, but we didn’t have much time. An attempt was made on our lives and we had to decide to go right then and there. Of course we couldn’t tell you, because you knew nothing about the Council or The Other. You didn’t even know you were a vampire.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me I was a vampire?” I asked my mother. “That would have been better than just taking off. Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Of course, we were going to tell you,” she said, “but we wanted you to have a normal life just a little longer.”
I thought over her words. “But why didn’t you get a message to me that you were safe?”
“We did,” she said, “and as you know, it went missing. At any rate, we’re here now. I know you probably don’t think we acted in your best interests, but I can assure you we did the best that we could, given the trying circumstances. We had to keep alive and we had to keep you safe.”
“Yes, I understand,” I said, although I didn’t completely understand. I did in theory, but it still hurt. All those years of hoping my parents weren’t dead, and wondering and hoping if they would suddenly turn up. It was all a little too much to take.
My mother was still speaking. “I know we have always thought of The Other as a nuisance,” she said to my aunts, “and they certainly are, but now they’re more than a nuisance. They’re in danger of overthrowing the Council.”
“But how is that even possible?” Aunt Maude said. “The Council is so powerful.”
“They have already murdered some members of the Council, as you’re well aware,” my mother said. “The reason they haven’t murdered all of us is because it wouldn’t look good to the vampire community at large. The Other are going to have to be subtle about how they take over power. This is why we need to find the person who has been hiding here and keeping an eye on you all this time. This person is a spy and so would be party to the information.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked them.
“One of the Council actually arrested someone working for The Other and made them talk,” my mother said, “but it was someone quite low down the organisation. They didn’t know much.”
“Is Scorpius Everyman still at large?” I asked.
Both my mother and father nodded. “Yes, more the pity,” my mother said. “He was last sighted in Venice. We can’t worry about him for now. As far as we know, he’s not in the country. We need to find out the identity of The Other’s spy in Lighthouse Bay.”
“I’ll get right onto it,” Lucas said.
My parents thanked him. “And I don’t think Pepper should be involved in the investigation,” he added. My parents remained silent.
“We will do it. We can,” Aunt Agnes said, “I will try to keep Valkyrie out of it.” With that, she gave me a huge wink, a wink that could not have gone unnoticed by Lucas.
A wave of dizziness hit me. I seized Lucas’s arm for support.
“Pepper, what’s wrong?” His face was filled with concern.
“I think I’m coming down with the flu or something,” I said.
Aunt Agnes at once turned to me. “You have a sore throat? A fever?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I feel a little off. Actually, I don’t have a sore throat, but I’m not sure about the fever, I mean. And I feel muddleheaded like I’ve got cotton wool in my head.”
“Have long have you been feeling like this?” my mother asked me.
“Only about a day, I think,” I said, trying to remember.
“How exactly do you feel?”
“Just very tired. I feel very tired and dizzy. Sort of like when coming down with the flu, only I don’t have a sore throat. I just feel tired and dizzy and not quite right.”
My mother and Aunt Agnes exchanged glances. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” my mother asked her.
Aunt Agnes nodded vigorously. “You think a tracking spell?”
“Not a tracking spell, surely?” Lucas said. “I haven’t heard of one of those for years.”
“What’s a tracking spell?” I asked them. “You mean like holding a pendulum over a map or something?”
My mother shook her head. “Sure, those spells do exist. However, we’ve taken measures to stop anyone doing a spell to find out where we are, and we have done so for years. No, a tracking spell is where they take some personal concerns of yours…”
I interrupted her. “Personal concerns?”
My mother listed some and concluded, “Hair, toenail clippings.”
I nodded. “I know what personal concerns are, I’m just surprised that anyone could get mine. I’m always careful to get rid of any toenail clippings and any hair from my brush, like any good magical practitioner is,” I said. “The aunts told me to do that.”
The aunts all smiled.
“Why is there a tracking spell on me?” I asked my parents. “Is it because the spy suspects you’re in town and I’ll lead them to you both?”
My mother agreed. “I’m afraid so. What do you think, Baudelaire?”
He put his arm around my shoulders. “Yes, I’m afraid you’re right. The spy wants Pepper to lead them to us.”
“I haven’t done that, have I?” I clutched my throat in horror.
“No, we’re still in the confines of Mugwort Manor,” Aunt Agnes said. “The spy will think you’re actually in the house or grounds and won’t have a clue you’re under the house in a secret tunnel.”
I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Pepper, try to remember when you first felt like this,” Lucas said.
“Actually, I don’t think I felt like it before the orchid show yesterday.” I scratched my head. “No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Yes, I felt like it at the orchid show for the first time. At least I’m fairly sure. I thought I must be coming down with the flu because I got soaked with rain at the orchid show. I just took a lot of vitamin C and didn’t think anything more about it. I drank more Witches’ Brew than normal to try to keep the flu at bay.”
“It sounds like a tracking spell to me,” my father said. “Horrible things, tracking spells. Perhaps someone took a piece of your hair at the orchid show. Do you remember anything like that?”
“Actually, no,” I said, and thought on it some more. “Hmm, I did feel something and I thought it might have been a wasp. It was like a sudden sharp feeling in my head. That would no doubt feel the same as someone pulling a piece of hair from my head.”
Aunt Agnes took me by my shoulders and turned me to face her. “Think hard, Valkyrie. This is very important. Who was around you at the time? Any of the suspects?”
I rubbed my eyes with both hands and thought hard. “I’m not really sure. You know, I think they all were. I was talking to Mrs Mumbles and then she left, and then Alan Aldon came over. No, it wasn’t then. I think it happened when we were trying to figure out what foliage meant and we were looking at some of the ribbons on the foliage plants.”
“Oh yes, I remember that. It was at the end of the show, just before we left,” Aunt Agnes said. “Who was around then?”
“I think all the suspects were close to me, with the exception of Euphemia Jones,” I said.
“We had better go now,” my mother said.
I grabbed her in a hug. “When will I see you again?” I did my best not to cry.
“Soon, I promise,” she said. “Don’t worry, Pepper. We won’t go away without telling you this time. We’ll see you again before we go. I’m hoping we will be able to stay around for a while.”
I stood there, tears running down my cheeks, as my parents walked away from me into the gloom and darkness of the tunnel.
Chapter 12
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As soon as we were back in the kitchen, Lucas left and the aunts and I turned on our phones. I had a text from Linda. I had called Linda the previous day and told her about the murder, and she wanted to know of any updates. Of course, I couldn’t tell her about my parents.
“We need to do an egg divination on Valkyrie,” Aunt Agnes said. “Maude, do you still have those eggs that the neighbour who rescues battery hens gave you?”
“Yes I do,” Aunt Maude said with a laugh. “She gives me some once a month. I usually give them to any boarders we happen to have. Such a lovely woman, rescuing all those hens. It’s amazing the difference she makes.”
Aunt Agnes waved a hand to silence her. “That’s all well and good, Maude, but we have a rescue mission here.”
“You know I can hear you,” I said. “I’m right here, if it hasn’t escaped your notice. And what’s this egg divination? Is it painful?”
The aunts laughed. “Of course not, Valkyrie,” Aunt Agnes said. “You simply take this egg…” She broke off. “Haven’t you got that egg yet, Maude? How long will it take for you to fetch the egg?”
Maude sighed and hurried over to fetch the egg. She brought it back immediately. “That doesn’t look like a black hen’s egg,” Aunt Agnes complained, clearly irritated.
“I’m sorry, she only gave me white eggs,” Maude said. “She doesn’t pick and choose her hens, you know. She rescues battery hens.”
Aunt Agnes rolled her eyes skywards. “If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times, and I don’t want to hear it again. I just want you to give the egg to Valkyrie.”
Aunt Maude handed me the egg. I looked at it, wondering what to do with it. I didn’t have to wait long.
“You roll it over yourself. You start with your head and move it down to your toes in an anticlockwise direction,” Aunt Agnes instructed me. “Of course, you’ll need to take off your shoes first.”
“Is that it?” I said, puzzled.
“Of course not. Maude, fetch Valkyrie a glass of water.”
“Thanks, but I’m not thirsty.”
